If you have a PhD in anything- ure automatically a doctor?

Question

A. Professors in Marketing who have a PhD, should I call them Dr. instead of Professor?
B. Will they typically get offended if you dont give them that credit for their educational credentials?

Answer 1

Automatically, not quite - it's an earned title. A PhD is a Doctor of Philosophy and so yes, he is a doctor not unlike a person who holds the Doctor of Medicine is a doctor and a person who holds the Doctor of Musical Arts is a doctor. The title doctor isn't a synonym for physician - it's an academic degree that physicians (not all) happen to have. In this way "doctor" is the title that goes with a degree and is not a job title.

Professor is a job and an academic rank. One need not have a doctorate to be a professor but they usually do. There are also associate and assistant professors who are generally referred to as "professor". At some schools, only those who hold the rank of professor are addressed as professor - assistants and associates are called Dr. or Mr. or Ms.

Some college educators are instructors or lecturers (academic ranks and job titles). They are generally not called professor but instead by courtesy title of Dr. or Mr. or Ms.-- in some schools, everyone who teaches a class is called professor regardless of rank or degree.

With regard to a professor with a PhD -- unless he instructs that he prefers otherwise, referring to him as Dr. Smith or Professor Smith is about equal. But, it wouldn't be Professor Dr. Smith or Professor Smith, PhD

It would absolutely not be Mr. Smith except in some very limited circumstances that you aren't likely to encounter (such as when you're the Captain of a ship and he's manning the wheel)

Using the proper academic courtesy and address will earn you halo points. Not using the correct courtesy can cause you to acquire a negative halo. Always err to caution - everyone teaching a class is either Dr. or Professor unless you know otherwise. ☺

Answer 2

"Doctor" - is a level of education. A Doctorate degree can be earned in many many disciplines, Medicine is not the only field in which one can be a Doctor. So, M.D.'s and D.O.'s are not the only people who have earned the title of Doctor. YES, A person with a Ph.D. degree has also earned the Doctorate, and is rightly called Doctor.

Whether or not one gets offended if you don't call them Doctor is a matter of personal style and preference (some prefer not to be called Doctor, others insist on being called Doctor). In one case, however, there is a convention that seems to override personal taste: The basic law degree in the USA is the J.D. (Juris Doctor), yet as a matter of convention J.D.'s who practice law are not generally called Doctor, while those who teach law often are called Doctor.

Call your Marketing Professor -Doctor-. Doctor is the title of achievement that she or he has earned. -Professor- is the position title of his or her job. As compared to "assistant professor", "associate professor", or "instructor" -professor- is also a title of rank (and authority) it should also be considered honorable to call him/her -professor-

If you know that your professor has a preference for one title or the other, then, by all means, address him/her by the preferred title..

Answer 3

A person that achieves a PhD has the title of Dr., you would most likely want to refer to them as Profressor ...

Answer 4

Yes, they should be called Dr. It doesn't mean they can perform surgery, because they don't have a medical degree, but they have a doctorate degree.

B, it probably depends on the person. I wouldn't want to be called Dr, but some do.

Answer 5

A person who earns their doctorate is a Dr. A PhD. isn't the only type of doctorate you can get. http://www.answers.com/topic/doctorate Check this out to see the different types of doctorates out there.

Answer 6

They will probably be offended, so, yes, call them doctor.